Hackensack Meridian Health Names Ihor S. Sawczuk, M.D., FACS, Regional President of the Northern Market

Hackensack Meridian Health, the most comprehensive and truly integrated non-profit health care network in New Jersey, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ihor S. Sawczuk, M.D., FACS, as regional president of the network’s Northern Market.

This appointment is in conjunction with Hackensack Meridian Health’s new organizational structure to better align its services and improve the overall experience for patients across its 16 hospitals and 500 patient care locations throughout New Jersey. This new structure consists of three markets – North, Central and South - and an integrated clinical transformation service that will help to align all of the network’s services around the patient to ensure better coordination and outcomes.

As Northern Regional President, Dr. Sawczuk will lead Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen and Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood.

An esteemed physician and sought-after educator, Dr. Sawczuk served as president of Hackensack University Medical Center and the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital. He is the assistant dean for clinical integration of the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University.

Dr. Sawczuk joined Hackensack University Medical Center in 2001, holding various leadership and clinical roles, including: executive vice president and chief medical officer, vice president of Academic Affairs, chief of Urologic Oncology and chair of Urology. Previously, Dr. Sawczuk served as an attending physician and vice chair in the Department of Urology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.

Recently elected president of the New York Medical & Surgical Society for the 2018-19 academic year, Dr. Sawczuk has been the recipient of numerous awards from prestigious academic and medical associations. He was recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of the nation’s physician leaders of hospitals and health systems to know two years in a row. He was honored by the National Ethics Collection of Organizations as a recipient of the 2017 Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

The Hackensack Chamber of Commerce made a generous donation to Tackle Kids Cancer, a philanthropic program benefitting the Children’s Cancer Institute at the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital, in honor of Dr. Sawczuk, as a part of his special recognition at the Chamber’s Night of Hope Gala. He was also the recipient of the Russell W. Lavengood Distinguished Service Award from the New York Section of the American Urological Association and was presented the prestigious Russell and Mary Hugh Scott Education Award by the American Foundation of Urologic Disease. In 1996, the office of the First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton recognized him for his Chernobyl humanitarian efforts.

Under Dr. Sawczuk’s leadership, the medical center is listed as one of the top two hospitals in New Jersey in U.S. News & World Report’s 2018-19 Best Hospital rankings. It was also named one of the top five New York Metro Area hospitals. The medical center is one of five academic medical centers in the nation to receive Healthgrades America’s 50 Best Hospitals Award for five or more years in a row. In 2018, it was ranked among the Becker’s Hospital Review 100 Great Hospitals in America, and among the top 25 green hospitals in the country according to Practice Greenhealth (for the fifth year in a row). It has earned 25 Gold Seals of Approval™ by The Joint Commission – more than any other hospital in the country.

Hackensack University Medical Center has also earned: a Quality “A” rating for patient safety by the Leapfrog Group; a CMS Star rating of 4; Green Guide’s listing of Top 10 Green Hospitals in the U.S; “Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign for four consecutive years; a designation as a Primary Stroke Center; accreditation as a Chest Pain Center; and accreditation as a Level 4 Comprehensive Epilepsy Center.

The medical center is participating in a groundbreaking pediatric oncology immunotherapy program at the Children’s Cancer Institute at the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital. In 2017, team members performed the most kidney transplants in the history of the program at Hackensack University Medical Center and this year initiated pancreas transplantation.

In the past year, Dr. Sawczuk led numerous projects with particular enthusiasm, including Project SEARCH, a one-year, business-led internship program for students with disabilities in their final year of high school. The medical center and the U.S. Army Reserve recently joined forces for Operation Hackensack S.M.A.R.T. (Strategic Medical Asset Readiness Training), a first-of-its-kind partnership which focused on high-quality, individualized specialty medical training for service members to improve their knowledge and skill sets, and increase soldier readiness.

ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH

Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care.

Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 16 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers – Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two children’s hospitals - Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital in Neptune; nine community hospitals - Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, and Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood; and two rehabilitation hospitals - JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick.

Additionally, the network has more than 450 patient care locations throughout the state which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers and physician practice locations. Hackensack Meridian Health has 33,000 team members, and 6,500 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves.

The network’s notable distinctions include having one of only five major academic medical centers in the nation to receive Healthgrades America’s 50 Best Hospitals Award for five or more consecutive years, four hospitals among the top 10 in New Jersey by U.S. News and World Report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, recipient of the John M. Eisenberg Award for Patient Safety and Quality from The Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum, a six-time recipient of Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For,” one of the “20 Best Workplaces in Health Care” in the nation, and the number one “Best Place to Work for Women.” The network was also named to Becker’s Healthcare’s “150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2018” list.

Hackensack Meridian Health partnered with Seton Hall University to launch the first private medical school in New Jersey – Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University - in more than 50 years to address a growing shortage of physicians and dramatic changes in health care delivery. Additionally, the network partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer to find more cures for cancer faster while ensuring that patients have access to the highest quality, most individualized cancer care when and where they need it. Hackensack Meridian Health and Carrier Clinic, New Jersey’s oldest and most respected behavioral health provider, signed a definitive agreement to merge.

Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies.

For additional information, please visit www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org